


The Beginning

by karovie



Series: His Royal Manservant [1]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Cannon Era, Magic, Merpeople, Near Drowning, Rescue, hurt Arthur, merfolk, merman merlin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-10
Updated: 2015-05-10
Packaged: 2018-03-29 22:12:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3912466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/karovie/pseuds/karovie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is the first part to a series of fics in this universe.</p><p>Merlin knows it's a risk, but he can't let the boy drown. Little does he know what the future will bring just for saving this human.<br/>Arthur knows he was saved, but he can only remeber a few fuzzy details of his savior. At least he has that little shell to remember him by.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> alright, so this is a small kind of introduction to this series. I have chosen to divide these up in to seperate fics in a sereis just to be able to keep it somewhat "clean" throughout. There are a few timejumps and I felt it would be really confusing and messy to try mash them into the same fic. so now you get them in the correct order. 
> 
> I am a bit of a slow writer, so it may take time for me to get on with the next story. let me know if you'd rather have me posting each chapter as I go (for those that will be divided into chapters) or wait until I've finished the whole fic before posting it. oh and I have finals all the way until the start of June, so I might not be able to write much until then.
> 
> let me know what you think :)

He knew it was forbidden. He just couldn’t let the poor boy drown! He should be allowed to make his own decisions, since his parents were who they were. But somehow he was regarded with less respect than even the lowest in their city. He knew where that came from. His father had trusted the wrong people, and they had been turning the people against Merlin, slowly, but surely. It didn’t matter what he said. His father could never believe his trusted men to do such things. He was too kind of a man.

 

He knew this act would make it worse for himself if it was discovered, but he just couldn’t watch this cruelty take place. He’d seen the boy, beaten and bound as he was, shoved off the cliff by big burly men. He swam as fast as he could towards the boy, tossing out a spell to ease the impact as the boy hit the surface of the water. The boy was only half conscious as he reached him, looking at him with half lidded, brilliant blue eyes. His golden hair waved gently with the water’s movement around his head. Boy wasn’t really the best word for him. He was no child. But he was not a grown adult either. He looked to be around Merlin’s own age.

 

Mesmerized as Merlin was with this beautiful boy, he forgot that humans could not breathe in water. The boy’s air left his lungs in great bubbles and he closed his eyes against the pain in his chest. Merlin was dragged back to reality and hurriedly conjured a spell to make the boy breathe again. He leant in, placed his mouth over the boy’s, sucking the water out from his lungs, spitting it out and replacing it with oxygen. He expanded the oxygen to make a bubble around the boy’s head and watched in satisfaction as the boy started breathing again.

 

Merlin made sure the terrible men were long gone before he swam the boy to the little beach close by. He crawled up the sandy beach, dragging the boy with him, until he was far enough up to be safe from the water. He stroked the boy’s face gently, moving the hair away from his forehead. He was such a beautiful sight! As his fingers rested against the boy’s cheek, those amazing blue eyes fluttered open, looking dazedly at him. Merlin gave him a gentle smile.

 

Merlin’s head shot up, looking towards the woods in the distance. He could hear voices shouting, no doubt looking for the boy. He mentally nudged the closest presence in the correct direction with his magic. Knowing his own eyes flashed golden from his magic, he chuckled slightly at the confused frown making itself known on the boy’s face. He gave him a last kind smile, before turning to make his way back into the water.

 

“Wa-!” The boy croaked and tossed out his arm trying to stop him, but he only managed to grab onto Merlin’s necklace that he had ended up tying around his wrist that morning. The worn lace broke from the strain, and the little seashell with his family’s crest carefully carved on the inside, was torn away from him, resting in the boy’s outstretched hand. He hesitated for a moment, looking back at the pleading expression on the boy’s face, but he couldn’t risk being caught, and so he hurriedly crawled back to the water. He watched the boy from a safe distance, making sure his people found him before he made his way back to his own city.

 

What he didn’t sense, was the merman watching him from a distance. He had seen it all. How his supposed prince had actively gone against their King’s rules, saving the life of a human. He made sure the prince didn’t see  him at all, as he made his way back to the others far behind the prince. It was time for the prince to be disciplined.

  
  
  


**~~~~oOMERLINOo~~~~**

  
  


Arthur had been confined to his bed for several days after his near drowning. He’d been  written off as delusional when he’d dazedly talked about the boy in the sea that had saved him. To be honest, he couldn’t remember much of what happened. He remembered smudged colors of blues, reds and yellows from the water. He remembered waking on the beach, looking into those brilliant blue eyes that shone golden for a moment, and that stunning smile lighting up the whole face  in front of him. That was all. No matter how hard he tried, he could not remember exactly what he looked like. He could be a woman for all he knew, but he had a feeling it was a boy who saved him. He didn’t even remember who found him.

 

He had been thoroughly beaten before he was tossed into the sea, and he had almost drowned. That probably had a lot to do with how fuzzy his memory was. His head was still sore from the blow to the head, his ribs were bound and he had bruises and cuts littered across his body. He stared up at the draperies over his bed.

 

Suddenly he remembered the little shell he had, by accident mind you, ripped off the other boy. He reached up under his pillow where he had hid it earlier, and pulled it out to have a look at it. It was a truly beautiful shell. It was cobalt blue with white markings, and it felt rough to the touch on the outside. On the inside however, it was smooth as glass except for the lines that were carved into it. The smooth surface was iridescent, and he was sure he could have found all the colors of the universe on it if he looked at it long enough. The lines carved into it, made up a figure that was half horse and half fish, and it seemed to have been filled in with the same cobalt blue from the outside of the shell. He thought of the yellow dragon on the red shield that was his family’s crest, and wondered if this could be the crest of the boy’s family. He would have to look that up.

 

There was a knock on the door, and after he called out for the person to enter, Leon came through the door. The man bowed deeply before asking for permission to speak with his expression alone. Arthur nodded.

 

“Sire, The men believed to be responsible for your abduction was found and are now being contained in the dungeons. The King wanted you to confirm their identities,” The man looked at him respectfully, and had a professional mask on his face, but his eyes betrayed his worries for his prince. He had always been more loyal to his prince than his King, and was the closest to a real friend the prince had.

 

“Thank you, Sir Leon, for informing me. Will you join me on my way to the dungeons?” Arthur knew he would need assistance, but was too proud to ask outright.

 

“Of course, my Lord,” Leon bowed slightly at that, and stood back to let his prince get out of the bed.

  
  


**~~~~oOMERLINOo~~~~**

  
  


He recognized the men at once. Sure, his mind was fuzzy, but he instantly knew that was the men that had abducted him and intended to kill him. It didn’t help their case when they paled at the sight of him and blurted out shouts of why he wasn’t dead yet.

 

King Uther, who had already had a difficult time of trying to contain his rage, exploded at their outbursts and ordered for their torture. They would of course be executed later, but he wanted them to suffer plenty first. Arthur suspected he would personally attend and even lend a hand in their torture.

 

As he left the dungeons he told Leon he wanted to see Gaius. The old man was a man of knowledge, and he guessed if anyone knew about the figure in the shell, it had to be him.

 

As they arrived at the physician’s chambers, Leon respectfully let the prince go in alone, and waited for him outside the door.

 

“Sire, what can I do for you? Are you in pain?” The old man asked when he saw his prince enter.

 

“I’m fine Gaius, I’m here for other reasons,” he said, taking the seat Gaius offered him. The old man looked him over, then nodded respectfully and sat down to listen to him.

“I have a question about this shell that I… found. It looks very rare and has a figure carved on the inside. Do you know something of it?” He could see recognition in the old man’s eyes even before he showed him the shell, but as he pulled it out and he caught sight of the color on the back of it, the old man’s eyes widened. He hurriedly schooled his expression into faked curiosity, but Arthur already knew the man knew exactly what he held in his hand.

 

“What a curious color on a shell,” Gaius pointed out, trying to hide the fact that he knew what it was.

 

“Gaius, cut the crap, I saw your reaction. You know what this is,” He said bluntly.

 

The old man looked at him for a moment before sighing.

 

“Shells with this color are incredibly rare. There are only a very few in existance. This cobalt blue color is said to be the color of a certain royal family, and the more blue there is on the shell, the higher up in ranks the person wearing it is. Having this much blue must mean the one who wore it was high in the ranks. Usually only royal family members would have this much blue on the shell. Others, like the knights, would only have a stripe of the blue, while the rest of it would be ranging from whites, to pinks to light blues,” He admitted, and carefully touched the shell on the table. He turned it around, and opened his mouth to continue.

 

“In addition to the blue shell, they have this creature as their family crest. Much like your family has the golden dragon. This creature is a symbol of power and elegance. It’s called a hippocampus and is half horse, half fish. It is said this family is a powerful one, but these are just legends. It is curious that you have found one of these shells... It does look real, but I’m afraid it must be a very skillful fraud, since these are all legends,” Arthur was very unsure if he should believe the old man’s words about it being just legends. He had reacted like he personally knew of this crest after all. He decided however to humor him, and play along.

 

“It must take a very skillful artist to make such a believable piece of art then,” he said and looked at the shell thoughtfully. “Ah, well it is decorative. Perhaps Morgana will find it appropriate as an accessory,” He added just to gauge Gaius’ reaction. He would not really give this away to anyone, and especially after seeing the old man’s poor attempt at hiding a wince at his words.

 

“Perhaps she will, my lord,” He said respectfully.

 

“Well, I believe I should retire for the evening. I bid you good night, Gaius,” He nodded at the man and stood.

 

“Good night, sire,” Gaius replied and watched his prince leave his chambers.

 

Leon followed him all the way back to his own chambers again. They bid each other goodnight, and when Arthur was alone once more, he made his way over to a box hidden inside his cupboard. He opened it and pulled out a silver chain. He carefully threaded it through the little cord on the shell and pulled put it around his neck, the inside of the shell resting against the top of his chest. He placed the box back in the cupboard and climbed into his bed. He felt the exhaustion overpowering him as he lay there on his back, his fingers gently touching the rough surface of the little shell. He fell asleep like that, with his fingers still resting against the shell on his chest.

 

 


End file.
